This invention relates to the construction industry and, more particularly, to an Extender piece that can be used with existing molding in order to increase the size of the channel for positioning and concealing electrical, video, data, and voice cabling.
In the construction industry, there is a need for providing passageways for electrical, video, data, and voice cabling. In modem offices and homes, this need has become even more important than it was in prior years. As offices and homes include ever increasing quantities of electronic equipment, the need for cabling becomes that much more acute.
In former years, a typical home may have just had one or two telephone wires and a couple of electrical cords. With the myriad of electronic equipment available nowadays, including computers, printers, facsimile machines, VCRs, stereo equipment, home entertainment centers, etc., the number of electrical, video, data, and voice wires and cables has increased very substantially. Necessarily, the cables and wires are not attractive and detract from the appearance of the premises. Moreover, they can provide a safety hazard, as people may trip over the wires. This can cause not only an injury to the person who falls, but could cause damage to the equipment when wires or cables are pulled from their proper connections.
Therefore, there is a need in the construction industry to provide passageways where the wires and cables can be positioned and also concealed safely.
Brown (U.S. Pat. No. 3,302,350) discloses one early type of molding construction which accomplishes such a purpose. It includes an attaching member which is affixed in any suitable manner to the wall structure. It includes a hooking protrusion and a groove on its top wall edge for engagement with the matching surfaces on the top cover edge of a cover member. Similarly, on the lower wall edge, there is a snap joint forming arc which engages with a protrusion on the lower cover edge of the cover member. By this means, the molding member defines a continuous channel between the attaching member and the cover member for the positioning of electrical cable. The problem with this construction is that the passageway is of a certain defined size. Once the passageway is fully used, there is no additional room for additional wires and cabling. The only solution is to remove the molding and to install a molding with a larger passageway. This is necessarily very expensive and time consuming.
Another type of molding or raceway for concealing electrical wiring is disclosed by Shira (U.S. Pat. No. 3,786,171). In this device, there is a back member that is positioned in any suitable manner on a wall. Then, there is a cover, which is hingeably connected to the back member at the lower lateral edge. A web is formed on the other end of the cover and it engages a channel on a retaining member at the top of the back member. In this way, the cover is held securely over the back member. Between the back member and the cover, one or more channels are defined for wiring an electrical cable. Again, this device suffers from the same deficiency. Once the interior space is completely used, no additional wiring or cabling can be installed. The only solution is to take down the raceway and install a molding or raceway with a larger interior passageway. This necessarily is time consuming and expensive.
A more modern construction for concealing electrical cabling is disclosed by Sease (U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,714), but it suffers from the same deficiencies. This device includes a molding element which is mounted in any suitable manner on a wall. It includes on one end a groove that is defined between a locking wall and an upstanding rib. Serrations appear in the locking wall. The molding element also includes a central retaining channel. The cover is basically in the shape of an upside-down W. It has a channel structure at its center which snaps into the retaining channel that is defined by resilient walls. At one end of the cover there is a wall with serrations that enter into the groove between the rib and the locking wall and engage with the serrations on the locking wall. In this manner, the cover and the molding member are held securely together. Again, the problem with this structure is that, while it provides passageways for wires and cabling, there is only a certain amount of available space. Once the interior passageway is completely utilized, no additional wires and cabling can be installed. The only solution is to remove the device and install with a larger interior passageway. Further, the primary purpose of this device is not even to install cabling and its primary purpose is to mount accent strips for the house. It is only by chance that the construction includes a passageway that could conceivably be used for cabling.
A more recent patent Holliday (U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,747) discloses a cove molding cover for electrical cables. This device includes a plurality of clip members which are attached in any appropriate manner to a wall. On each of the lateral edges, there are upturned edges which define a bead. The cover panel includes turned-over edges which define a lip and a cavity running the length of the cover. This permits the cover to be slid on to the beads of the clips and to be held securely. Necessarily, it defines a channel between the clips and the cover which may be used for positioning and concealing wires and electrical cabling. Again, this device suffers from the same deficiency. Once the entire of the interior cavity is filled, no additional cabling or wire can be utilized. If more cabling or wiring needs to be installed, then it is necessary to remove the device and install another device with a larger passageway.
Another prior art device is shown in FIG. 1 herein. In particular, it includes a molding piece with legs that are affixed to the ceiling and to the wall, and with a connector piece between them. The edge of each leg has upstanding ribs to define a retaining channel. A cover of pliable material, such as sheet metal, is flexed, so that its ends fit into the two retaining grooves. Again, the problem with this design is that the internal passageway for the wires and cables is of only a finite size. Once the passageway is filled, there is no additional room for adding more cable and wires. The solution is to remove the molding and replace it with molding of a larger size.
Therefore, it can be seen that a significant disadvantage of the prior art is that there is no convenient way to increase the size of the passageway to make room for additional wires and cabling. These devices of the prior art all require that they be removed and replaced with larger moldings in order to create larger passageways for additional cabling and wires. There is no simple and cost-effective device or procedure for quickly and efficiently increasing the passageway size without replacing the molding.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a simple, easy-to-use device that can be fitted with conventional moldings, so as to increase the size of the passageway to permit the positioning of additional wires and cables.
This and other objects of the invention can be obtained with a simple Extender piece that is fitted next to one of the legs of the prior art molding device. At the edge of the Extender piece, there are upstanding ribs that define a retaining channel. This enables a larger cover to be used and to be inserted into the retaining channel of the Extender piece, instead of the retaining channel on the leg of the original molding. By this means, the effective size of the passageway is increased and additional cabling and wiring can be positioned within the molding without the need for removing and installing molding of a larger size.
The Extender of this invention was created to meet an increasing demand for greater cabling capacity. Though there are many upgrades that can be used to meet these demands, each of them has their own deficiencies.
At the outset, the only way to truly increase the cabling capacity of any molding was to take it out and install a larger one. During the process of removing the molding, various additional problems are encountered. First, the wall may be damaged, thereby requiring repair to the wall and new painting. Another no less important problem was that the removal process caused a disruption to existing services, because the cabling needs to be removed for the molding to be removed.
None of these problems exist with the Extender of this invention. Because the original molding is being used, except for the cover shield, there is no need to repair walls or to repaint. Further, because the existing molding is not being removed, the cabling itself does not need to be removed and service is not interrupted.
Moreover, in a more enlightened society which is ever increasingly conscience about waste, the extender makes it possible to avoid the substantial waste of disregarding the prior molding.
Therefore, it can be seen that there are significant and important advantages to the Extender of this current invention.